MULDER T & PHILIPPONA J (1965) Haunts for Geese in the surroundings of Moerdijk-Klundert, and along the river Mark, in the Western part of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. LIMOSA 38 (3): 118-141.

Haunts for Geese in the surroundings of Moerdijk-Klundert, and along the river Mark, in the Western part of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. Netherlands. Just as some other haunts, the present one is threatened by various dangers, viz., the Delta-works, improved drainage and re-allotment-schemes. Observations have been done on a hundred data, during five successive winters from 1957-58 till 1961-62 included. II. In the surroundings there are other goose-haunts of smaller importance. Contacts between these haunts have been observed. But the haunts have their own roosts. The present haunt is one of the most important for the White-fronted Goose in The Netherlands. III-V. In the North of the haunt lies the Hollands Diep, about 1800 mtrs wide. In it is a big sand-bank, the Sasseplaat. At normal low tide an area of 135 ha (337,5 acres) is left dry. Fifty ha (125 acres) of it is grown with rushes and reeds. Along the south shore of the Hollands Diep is found a rather wide, marshy strip with rush-, reed- and osierbeds. One part of this strip, being a muddy flat at low tide, partly covered with rushes, is called Appelzak. The Appelzak and part of the Sasseplaat form an important feeding-ground of the Grey-lag Goose. Especially the bare parts are roosts of the Whitefronted and Bean Goose. Along the Hollands Diep there are a number of well-drained polders. Those visited regularly by Geese, comprise a clearly bounded strip of 6 km long and at most 2,5 km from the Hollands Diep, with a total area of 1200 ha (3000 acres) of grassland in a few separate lots. The rest of the area comprises 400 ha (1000 acres) of fields. The region between this strip and the river Mark consists mainly of fields and is seldom visited by Geese. Some small allotments of grassland in this region seldom exceed 10 ha (25 acres) each. South of the river Mark we find a very large area of grassland, the Beemden, traversed by a small number of roads and two railways. The Beemden, which are practically without houses, have an area of 3300 ha (8250 acres) and are of great importance as a haunt of the White-fronted Goose. Parts of the grassland are flooded in wintertime. The floods provide an important roost for the Whitefronts. VI. The earliest data about the occurrence of geese in the Beemden of the river Mark are from 1920--1930. Especially when floods occurred, thousands of geese (mainly Bean Geese in those days) stayed in the area. When the floods stopped, the Beans found their roost on the Hollands Diep. The Bean Goose decreased, as in other parts of Western and Central Europe. Gradually the White-fronted Goose increased. During the last 10 to 20 years the Whitefront has become the most common wintering goose on the continent of Western Europe. Especially from 1952 the species has increased in the haunt under discussion. The Grey-lag Goose in the neighbourhood of the Hollands Diep has become a came into effect. From 1940 the species decreased, probably by the making of the new Noordoostpolder in the former Zuiderzee. VII. All species of the Dutch list have been observed here, but only three of them occur in important numbers: Grey-lag, White-fronted and Bean Goose. VIII. Grey-lag Goose. Table I shows the maximum numbers for each month. For this species fewer data could be collected, because of the fact that the Greylags are often feeding on the rushbeds near the Hollands Diep, which can only be approached by boat. The first Greylags appear in the course of September. Maximum numbers stay in October. A number of them mostly stay the whole winter. An increase occurs in February. Departure is mainly not before mid-April. Summering of small numbers has been observed during the last few years, just as in some other haunts in The Netherlands. When the Greylag is feeding on grassland and sugar-beet fields, it seldom goes farther inland than some Kms. IX. The White-fronted Goose. All counts are included in table II. The average temperature (at De Bilt, Meteorological station) and important snowfall are recorded in this table. In the years given: November, sometimes already in October, small numbers of Whitefronts appear. Probably these geese do not stay, but migrate to other haunts. Big numbers do not appear before mid-December and always under the influence of cold weather and snow. Hereafter in three of the five winters a decrease has been noticed without any evident meteorological cause (later observations indicate backmigration to NE after setting in of thaw.). In the course of February an increase is always recorded. Maximum numbers occur in the second part of that month. This sudden increase is found everywhere in The Netherlands during all the winters, often independent of weather-influences. The departure of the Whitefronts from the area is clearly affected by the weather. Cold weather in March (e.g. 1958) delays the departure until the end of the month. When the weather is mild (1959 and 1961) the geese depart before midMarch. The important fluctuations in the maximum numbers in different winters do not run parallel to those in the whole country (see table III). Feeding and roosting behaviour of the White-fronted Goose. The roosts in the Hollands Diep: Sassenp1aat and Appelzak, are most frequently used. During each normal high tide these banks are flooded, but in the course of each tideperiod of about 12)1 hrs, geese can stand on parts of the banks for at least 7 to 8 hours. During periods with moonlight the geese often reverse their diurnal rhythm: they rest on the banks in the daytime and graze on the feeding-grounds during the night. On such days observations could sometimes be made on the roosts. Geese have been seen gradually flying up from the banks during rising tide and alighting close behind the reed-beds. They stayed there, swimming in long-drawn groups. Under exceptional circumstances the geese stay on the feeding-grounds all day and night, e.g. during severe frost or heavy storm, sometimes also at full moon. [n some winters a second roost is made by flooded parts in the polders along the river Mark. These floods only occur in the polder the Haagse Beemden. Table IV gives 44 observations-days on which the whole area was searched. As long as the number of Whitefronts is small, they stay in the surroundings of the Hollands Diep (Region A). As soon as more geese arrive (at least some hundreds), they go to the Beemden near the Mark to graze (Region B.). But sometimes big numbers of Whitefronts stayed in region A, so in the neighbourhood of the roost on the Hollands Diep. When the ground is snow-covered or it is foggy, the Geese did not travel to the Beemden. The maximum distance between grazing grounds (Beemden) and roost (Hollands Diep) can be 10-12 kms. all at once the geese leave this area, after which they stay on the grazing-grounds near the Hollands Diep. This shifting happened in the five winters of observation not before the end of February or the beginning of March, so some weeks before the spring migration starts. Mc. IIhenny (1932) mentions such behaviour of the Blue Goose in its winterquarters in Louisiana, U.S.A. X. Bean Goose. Most of the observations of this species are recorded in table V. The occurrence is irregular. They seldom appear before the end of December, obviously just as the Whitefront under the influence of weather-circumstances. The bigger numbers leave end-February. They roost mainly on the banks in the Hollands Diep. They travel to the grazing-grounds up to a maximum of 9 kms. Table V shows that bigger groups mostly feed on fields (A), sometimes on grassland (G). Smaller groups often join Whitefronts (+) and then feed on grassland. The Beangeese of this particular haunt mostly belong to the race rossicus, or to the mixed population fabalis-rossicus. XI. The Barnacle Geese only occur in small numbers (at most tens), always among the White-fronted Geese. Fifteen kms to the west, near Willemstad, there is a important haunt of this species. XII. This haunt is threatened by several dangers. The roosts in the Hollands Diep will probably devaluate after the Deltaworks will have been finished. The water-level will then become mainly independent of the tides and the banks will be permanently under water. Moreover, industrialization at the month of the Rode Vaart, at a short distance of the roosts, will cause much disturbance. Flooding of the grasslands in the Haagse Beemden will be prevented by a drainagescheme in the near future. Accordingly the haunt will lose its roosts. Roosts with shallow and quiet water are most essential for any Goose-haunt. Taiga Bean Goose Anser fabalis Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons Greylag Goose Anser anser

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